Combination shoulder and body brace with attachments.



I PATENTED JAN. 31; 1905.

T. E; MQMURTRY. COMBINATION SHOULDER AND BODY BRACE WITH ATTACHMENTS.

APPLIGATI ON FILED JUNE 27, 1903.

' WITNESSES) V UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1 905.

PATENT OFFIC COMBINATION SHOULDER AND BODY BRACE \INITH ATTACHMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 781,544, dated January31, 1905.

' Application filed June 27,1903. Serial No. 163,435.

To Ari/Z whom it mag concern.-

Be it known that I, TILLMAN E. McMURTRY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Shoulder andBody Braces with Attachments, of which the following is afull, clear,and exact description.

The invention relates to shoulder and body braces with attachments; andthe objects of the invention are to produce a brace that will be simpleand economical of construction, comfortable and durable for wear, thatwill be so arranged on the body with relation to its structure as toassist, correct, and sustain, while in an upright position only, thoseanatomical structures that have to do with the correct and normalcarriage of the human body; to secure equal tension and pressure on allparts ofthe body while .in an upright position and to release alltension and brace efiects whenever the body assumes'any position inbending, sitting, or reclining; to provide support for the lowerabdominal regions and suspension for the trousers or skirts, the socksor stockings or any garment needing support at or below the waistline,and to facilitate-the moving body in securing and maintaining the normalswing of,

the arms and shoulders with relation to the feet. I attain these ends bymeans of the mechanism or device as set forth in the fol-.

lowing specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, ofwhich Figure 1 shows the brace in front as worn; Fig. 2, a back view ofthe same; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the entire brace, and Fig. 4 theabdominal pad.

The brace is constructed to have shoulderloops A adapted to encircle theright and left shoulders, and at the inner lower sides of said loops atthe points B, which are'adapted whenin use to lie over the lower spinalborders of the point" indicated and from thence pass around over thefibers of the oblique abdominal muscles, following the course of saidmuscles around to the front of the body and terminating in ends E, whichare adjustably secured by means of buckles e to the uppercortaching-arms g for the attachment thereto in any ordinary way of thetrousers, skirt, underwear, or other garment, and each of the suspendersis provided with an adjustable buckle g of any usual character forregulating the length and tension exerted by the suspenders. The weightof the garment supported by the suspenders gives a sufficient downwardtension on the shoulder-loops. to remove irksome and hurtful pressurefrom the structures of the armpit. The shoulder-loops are connected bymeans of'astrap H, which passes across the back. above thecrossing-point of the bodystraps and serves to hold the brace in anadjustable position.

The above-described elements constitute the upper section of the brace.The lower section of the brace comprises right and left leg-straps H,secured by'means of adjustingbuckles 72, to the lower corners h ofthe'abdominal pad, and said leg-straps are provided at their ends withadjusting-buckles I,

to which are attached diverging arms i, terminating in clasps or clipsforv the purpose of securing the arms to a sock or stocking. By securingthe brace in, this way the legstrap serves not only as a support for thesock or stocking, but also as a means for holding the abdominal pad andbrace attached thereto in place.

It will be understood that in fitting the brace to any person havingadeformity or for use with female garments the parts may be shortened orlengthened to meet the requirements of each particular case. It ispreferred to form the abdominal pad or section F of webbing or othersuitable material of about one inch in width, and said pad should beplaced crosswise of the body immediately over the upper border of thepubic bone, the groins receiving its ends, the four corners of whichserve, as before stated, for the attachment of the different straps.This arrangement connects the left shoulder-loop with the rightleg-strap and the right shoulder-loop with the left leg-strap, whichcauses all of the forces to center in the abdominal pad, which isadapted to shift its position, relieving severe tension and pressure onone section of the brace by taking up the slack from a correspondingsection, and at thesame time the pad acts as an abdominal supporter.

The brace when put in position and properly adjusted to the body andwhen the body is upright, as when walking and standing, affects thecarriage, first, by drawing backward the shoulders; second, by pressingforward and slightly upward on the spine at the point of jointure of thetwo body-straps, and, third, by pressing backward on the pelvis. Thisconcerted action of the brace upon the shoulders, spine, and pelviscurves the lumbar and dorsal spine forward together and at the same timeretracts the shoulders and hips. When walking, as the right foot goesbackward at the completion of the step the tension caused thus exerts apull on the left shoulder, drawing it backward, while the rightshoulder, on account of the simultaneous flexing of the knee and hip ofthe left leg and the slack thus occasioned in this portion of the brace,

is released and moves forward. The shoulders alternating thus with thefeet give a normal swing to the moving body. The legstraps are arrangedto follow the curvature of the thigh and pass around from the front tothe outer side of the legs, thereby closely following the natural curveof the muscles.

The detachable and adjustable buckles render the brace readilyadjustable and enable it to be easily and quickly removed and replaced.It may be worn over the outershirt and drawers and is made of some flatstrong material, such as webbing, preferably non-elastic, althoughcertain of the straps may be elastic, if so desired.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A brace consisting of shoulder-loops adapted to encircle the shouldersof the wearer, body-straps secured to the loops and crossing each otherfrom rear to front of the body of the wearer, suspenders depending fromthe shoulder-loops, a section of material adapted to lie over theabdominal region to which the body-straps are attached, and leg-strapssecured to said section and adapted to have the hose of the wearerattached thereto, to exert a downward tension and hold the pad in place,substantially as described.

T. E. MoMUR'lRY.

Vitnesses:

F. C. UADY, JOSEPH SHuRLAw.

